(Ichikawa Hakuen) Tsuizen juzu no oyadama （市川白猿）追善数珠親玉

FSC-GR-780.737

Commentary by Sato Satoru

Posted March 24, 2018
Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Ishiwatari Risukepublished this book at the new year 1807 (Bunka 4) in commemoration of the kabuki actor Ichikawa Hakuen (Ichikawa Danjūrō V 五代目市川団十郎, 1741–1806) who died on the thirtieth day of the tenth month of the previous year at the age of sixty-six. The preface by the literary and performance figure Utei (Tatekawa) Enba (Dan Shūrō 談洲楼, 1743–1822) recounts the circumstances surrounding Danjūrō’s final moments and includes the actor’s handwritten “one hundred nenbutsu” (nenbutsu hyakushu 念仏百首). [1] The oyadama (親玉) in the title refers to the largest spherical bead on the string of prayer beads used when chanting the nenbutsu, the invocation of the namu Amida butsu (“Homage to Amida Buddha”). Here, Danjūrō is likened to the oyadama of kabuki actors.

The preface is followed by the main text that comprises commemorative kyōka and hokku by poets such as Rokujuen 六樹園 (1753–1830) and Sakazuki no Komendo 酒月米人 (1752–1829); artists such as Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760–1849); gesaku writers such as Santō Kyōden 山東京伝 (1761–1816), Shikitei Sanba 式亭三馬 (1776–1822), and Sakuragawa Jihinari 桜川慈悲成 (1762–1833); groups of supporters such as the Shinbaren (新場連); members of Danjūrō V’s family, as well as kabuki actors such as Matsumoto Kōshirō V 五代目松本幸四郎(1764–1838), Iwai Hanshirō V 五代目岩井半四郎 (1776–1847), and Bandō Mitsugorō III 三代目坂東三津五郎 (1775–1831).

The book is interspersed with various images: a “rokubu” by Utagawa Toyokuni (歌川豊国); “Shibaraku” (暫) by Torii Kiyonaga (鳥居清長) [2]; a portrait of Danjūrō V by Shōsō (笑艸); the character Kumedera Danjō（久米寺弾正) Katsukawa Shunkō (勝川春好) from the kabuki play Kenuki (The tweezers); Sukeroku (助六) by Hishikawa Sōri (菱川宗理); Marsilea crenataferns (denjisō 田字草) by Shiriyake no Sarundo 尻焼猿人 (Sakai Hōitsu 酒井抱一); a Buddhist pilgrim carrying a basket (笈) and shōko drum (鉦鼓) by Kitao Masayoshi 北尾政好; costumes for the play Shibaraku by Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎; an incense burner and peonies by Katsushika Hokuga 葛飾北鵞; and a picture by Katsushika Hokusai of Danjūrō V’s following his retirement in Mukōjima and wearing the armor from a stage performance. (The Pulverer copy illustrates the Toyokuni, Sōri, and Hokusai’s images.)

This work is extremely important not only as a research tool on Danjūrō V, but also as a resource in the understanding of the actor’s cultural sphere and his close connections with numerous cultural figures.

書名 (市川白猿）追善数珠親玉
執筆者佐藤悟

文化三年(1806)十月三十日に六十六歳で没した市川白猿（五代目市川団十郎）の追善のために、文化四年正月に石渡利助から出版された。烏亭焉馬（談洲楼）の序文にはその終焉の様子を記し、団十郎自筆の「念仏百首」をそのまま掲げる。書名の「数珠の親玉」は念仏を唱える時に用いる数珠の中でも最も大きい球を親玉といい、団十郎を役者の親玉に喩えたものである。その後に六樹園、酒月米人、らの狂歌師、葛飾北斎らの画工、山東京伝や式亭三馬、桜川慈悲成のような戯作者、新場連のような後援団体、団十郎の家族や五代目松本幸四郎、五代目岩井半四郎、三代目坂東三津五郎ら役者の追善の狂歌や発句、文章を記す。挿絵は歌川豊国画の六部、鳥居清長画の「暫」、笑艸筆の団十郎像、春好筆の久米寺弾正（「毛抜」）、菱川宗理画の「助六」、尻焼猿人（酒井抱一）画の田字草、政好画の笈と鉦鼓、辰斎画の「暫」の衣裳、北鵞画の香炉と牡丹、葛飾北斎画の「向島隠居之像」（鎧を着た舞台姿）から成る。団十郎の伝記研究にも、また自らも文筆をよくし、多くの文化人と親交があった団十郎を取り巻く文化圏の研究にも極めて重要な作品といえる。

Selected readings:
Hino Tatsuo 日野龍夫, ed., Gosei Ichikawa Danjūrō shū: Hakuen to Edo buntan 『五世市川団十郎集　白猿と江戸文壇』(Tokyo: Yumani Shobō, 1975).

Copies in other collections:
National Diet Library, Tokyo
Tenri University Library, Nara Prefecture
Waseda University Library, Tokyo

[1] Nenbutsu hyakushuis also known by the alternate name, Ichikawa Hakuen nenbutsu hyakushu (市川白猿念仏百首). It has a brown paper cover with the design of the Ichikawa Danjūrō crest, the mimasu 三升, or “three concentric rice measures.”
[2] Here rokubu (六部) refers to rokujūrokubu (六十六部), a Buddhist pilgrim carrying copies of the Lotus Sutra to be deposited at sites throughout Japan.